New Repertory Theatre's production of 'Oleanna' encourages conversation on sexual harassment

Thursday

Oct 12, 2017 at 6:33 AM

By Alexander Stevens Correspondent

The New Repertory Theatre in Watertown invites subscribers to attend the first read-through of the next play they’re producing. Patrons recently gathered to hear David Mamet’s emotionally charged drama, “Oleanna.”

“There were actually gasps at several points during the reading,” says Elaine Vaan Hogue, the director of “Oleanna,” which runs Oct. 14 to Nov. 5 at New Rep. “This play will be surprising to people who aren’t familiar with it. It’s going to stimulate some anger and some emotion.”

That’s the clear track record of “Oleanna.” Mamet hit a nerve when the play premiered in 1992. Vaan Hogue says the concept of “sexual harassment” was so new at that time that people didn’t even know how to pronounce it.

“There had been a rise in reports of sexual harassment,” she says, “but it really wasn’t a part of the public conversation.”

Then along came Anita Hill. In 1991, she accused Clarence Thomas, a U.S. Supreme Court nominee, of sexual harassment at just about the same time that Mamet was pulling the last page of “Oleanna” out of his typewriter. It was one of those rare moments when theater was timely and topical. Those who saw the production that premiered in Cambridge with actor William H. Macy wouldn’t soon forget it.

“It was synchronicity,” says Vaan Hogue. “The play fed the national conversation.”

About 25 years later, Jim Petosa, artistic director of New Rep, asked Vaan Hogue if she was interested in directing actor Johnny Lee Davenport in a new production of the play.

“It’s just as relevant now as it was in 1992,” says Vaan Hogue. “Maybe even more relevant.”

The director was able to view “Oleanna” with fresh eyes.

“I had never seen a production of the play,” she says. “When I went back to read it, I really wanted to side with Carol. But I sometimes felt like I was on John’s side, and that disturbed me. And of course, the end of the play is still quite shocking.”

“Oleanna” begins with Carol, a college student, meeting one of her professors, John, in his office. She’s struggling in his class, and she’s hoping to get some guidance and insight. Although John at first seems distracted and frustrated by Carol, he eventually makes it clear that he wants to help her, and at one point, he touches her on the shoulder.

The next time the two meet, the dynamics have shifted. More poised and self-confident, Carol has filed a complaint with John’s tenure committee. It’s the beginning of a power play that may divide the audience into Team John and Team Carol.

“At one point you might side with Carol, and the next moment you may side with John,” says Vaan Hogue. “The play doesn’t give any easy answers. In fact, it doesn’t give any answers at all.”

As a result, much of the story is told in the staging, and the interactions between John and Carol – especially the physical ones – require a careful bit of choreography. A touch on the shoulder can mean many different things, and it can be interpreted many different ways.

What’s in John’s heart? Is he attracted to Carol? Why is he offering her an “A” in the class if she just agrees to meet him in his office for periodic discussions? What is Carol’s motivation? How much is she being influenced by the group of friends that we never see onstage?

Vaan Hogue admits “there’s lots of room for interpretation.”

That’s the reason couples tend to have animated conversations in the car ride home after seeing the play.

In some ways, Vaan Hogue may be just the right person to direct the play: She’s a professor of theater at Boston University, and she understands the unique dynamics of the student-teacher relationship.

“I absolutely do,” she says, but she adds that “the theater conservatory situation in which I teach is very different. It’s a very tight-knit artistic community. So there are lots of things in the play that I don’t relate to. The thing I always try to remember as a teacher is that whatever you say to a student can have such a deep impact on a student, in ways you can’t even imagine. The words you choose are so important, and listening is so important.”

“Oleanna” certainly seems to fit on Vaan Hogue’s resume.

“I like plays that deal with social and political issues,” says Vaan Hogue, who directed “Imagining Madoff” and “The Kite Runner” for New Rep. “I like plays that are visceral. And I’m attracted to theatricality, not so much kitchen-sink realism.”

She applauds Mamet’s command of the language in “Oleanna.”

“The language is the action in this play,” she says. “But it’s not just intellectual, it’s also physical. I like ideas that are not only stimulating, but ideas that can also be realized in physical ways. With ‘Oleanna,’ you have to jump into the ideas and live there. I think that’s exciting, but it’s also uncomfortable.”